Famous Amos
by CryogenicUkulele
Summary: When back for senior year, Miles is reunited with his old friends. After school began, his roommate Chip "the Colonel" Martin, suddenly comes down with something serious (on top of already having a lingering pneumonia) & Pudge can't get him to go to the hospital. Is it just the Colonel's natural stubbornness or is there another reason behind his persistance?(Not a Slash)
1. Back Again

**I don't own anything associated with the book ****_Looking for Alaska._**

It's the first semester of our senior year. I lucked out and got to be roommates with the Colonel again, and Takumi was right beside us. When we met again while my parents helped me move in, he came down from our room and walked up to my car.

"How long does it take, Pudge? You're going to school, not Europe."

"Sorry; it just takes some time because you know." I nodded my head towards my mother who was sobbing uncontrollably beside the car. The Colonel mouthed 'gotcha' and walked up to my parents.

"You two must be Miles' parents; it's nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Halter, I'm Chip Martin, your son's roommate. I was his roommate last year, so he's not around anyone new." He introduced himself like I've never seen him do. He was polite and patient, not common characteristics of Chip "The Colonel" Martin. He spoke with his voice that was too deep for someone of his size. He hadn't changed much, except he looked a little less stocky.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Chip."

"I'll take good care of him, and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble, Mrs. Halter." This was funny, because he was quite possibly the worst influence on me at this school, besides she who shall remain nameless for the time being.

"How long have you been going to Culver?"

"Since Freshman year, sir; full ride."

"Ohhh, so you're a smarty; see, honey, Miles is in good hands. We'll leave you and Chip to do what you have to." My mom came and kissed me on the cheek, before choking me in her embrace.

"Bye, mom, I'll see you later." She nodded and went to the car. Once they drove away, The Colonel hit my shoulder and laughed.

"Nice folks, sad to see them go."

"Believe me, you wouldn't be." He smirked.

"Well, take your stuff up to our room and we can go get all the stuff."

"Can you help me out a bit?"

"Uh, I'll pull those cute little suitcases of yours, but the rest is up to you, man." He grabbed two suitcases with wheels and headed to the dorm. He left me with two duffels bags, and a carrying suitcase to carry by myself.

"Why can't you carry these? You're stronger than I am."

"Doctors orders; I'm not allowed to do any lifting, or anything strenuous."

"Strenuous?"

"Nine letter word meaning 'requiring physical effort, energy, stamina, or strength'."

"I know that, smart ass."

He smiled. "It's really stupid. Do you know how much shit I can't do? A lot of shit, that's how much."

I trudged up and down those stairs three times just to get all my stuff to the room. Now, we had to go get the couch and the COFFEE TABLE and everything else we needed. "So, why can't you lift things?"

"I got really sick over the summer. It started out as a chest cold, which happens sometimes, I get them every so often, but this went away after about eight days of hell, and then a day and a half later, I started coughing again, but it was _worse,_ so I went to the doctor, and they told me I had pneumonia; try having that for 2 months."

"_Two __**months**_, holy shit, that's terrible."

"I know it was terrible; my summer sucked."

"So, you can't lift _anything?"_

"I can, but I shouldn't." We went to find our stuff and asked Takumi for help. He helped me haul the couch and coffee table up to our room, while the Colonel took some smaller stuff. He opened the door, and we put everything into place. Once that was all done, he fell onto the couch and sighed heavily, coughing afterwards.

"What classes are you taking?"

"Government… AP Calculus… Advanced Latin… a geography class" He started drifting off to sleep before he finished his schedule. Damn, he must've been **sick** if it's affecting him now.

"Colonel?"

"Hm?"

"What else?"

"Oh yeah," he mumbled. "Uhh… oh, religion again. I also took a new class they're offering here."

"What is it?"

"Alabama history."

"Sounds boring."

"I had a spot to fill." I could tell he wasn't up for much conversation. He was exhausted and he wasn't trying to hide it.

"Well, I'm taking government, and religion, but I have French 3, and Calculus."

The Colonel smirked when I said Calculus. "Hey, not everyone can be a genius like you, with your smartboy AP math classes."

"Yeah, I know." He sat up and sighed, running his fingers through his sweaty, brown hair, which was longer than it was last year. The sweat made it stand up, but it slowly fell back down over his forehead.

"Damn, it's hot."

"Good ole Alabama," he said standing up. "What're you gonna do for the rest of the weekend?" This year was a year I had to come early to the dorms, since my parents had to go somewhere else for "business".

"I'm not sure, I've got some books-"

"Biographies?"

"Yeah; I'll probably just read a lot. I might go get some food every once in a while."

"You got a car?"

"Yeah, I did over the summer." The Colonel smiled. He was happy I had my own ride, which meant I wouldn't be begging him for rides, I could tell. I could also tell that he wasn't gonna be too much fun to be around, since he was kind of fighting off a lingering case of pneumonia. "What're you gonna do?"

"Sleep."

"That's it?"

"Yep… It's all I've wanted to do for the past two and a half months."

"And a half?"

"Oh yeah… I still kinda have it." I stared at him and hit his shoulder. I wasn't planning on getting pneumonia the day I came back to Culver Creek. "Calm down, pussy, I'm not contagious anymore."

"You sure you should even be here?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Pudge. I don't have a fever anymore, it's just lingering symptoms." Just as he said that, he ran to the bathroom, slamming the door shut. I could hear him throwing up into the toilet in the stall right next to the showers. I got up to go check on him, but he opened the door before I could do anything. He rubbed his eyes and coughed again.

"Fine, huh?"

"Like I said, asshole, _lingering symptoms_." He took off his shirt and climbed up onto the top bunk. "I'm going to sleep."

"You want me to wake you up to go eat?"

"Not hungry."

"Ok, just tell me when you're hungry." And he was out like a light. I turned off the light, turned on the TV, and put it on mute. There were subtitles that came up so I could at least read what they were saying, and I used that light to read the biography of Albert Einstein, which drove me up the wall at times because I remembered hearing something that said no one knew his last words, but I read that book just to make sure. I was about a third of the way through when I heard the Colonel stir up in his bed. "You alright?"

He mumbled something unclear but snored softly a few seconds later. I went back to reading when Takumi and Lara came in. "Sup, bitches?"

"Shh, Chip's sleeping."

Takumi glanced up towards the bed and saw him; he was sleeping on his stomach, so Takumi could see his back rise and fall rhythmically. His eyebrows rose and he sat beside me on the couch, Lara sat on the ground. "How was your summer?"

"Good, what about yours?"

"Awesome, Japan is fucking fantastic."

"What about you, Lara?"

"Good, eet was very good. I just stayed at home, though."

"Nothing to be ashamed of," I said. "You could've had the Summer of The Colonel."

"What's the Summer of The Colonel?"

"A month of my dad at home," he mumbled groggily. "Two and half months of pneumonia."

"That sucks ass, dude."

"Yeah it does; my dads' being home was worse than the pneumonia and the pneumonia _sucked."_

"It still sucks, doesn't it?"

"Not as bad." He bundled up in a blanket and turned his back to the TV.

"Aren't you hot?"

"Thanks, Pudge, that's awful kind-a you," he said with his Alabama accent that doesn't usually show itself.

"You know what I mean; you better not be getting a fever, I'm not living with someone with pneumonia."

"It's not contagious!" He kicked off the blanket and jumped down to the floor. He motioned his hands towards the door, meaning move over on the couch. We did, and he collapsed onto it. He un-muted the TV and rubbed his eyes. "I can't sleep."

"Those were James M. Barrie's last words," I thought aloud.

"Thanks, that's real comforting, Pudge." We sat and watched Family Guy for about two episodes before Lara and Takumi had fallen asleep. The Colonel was surprisingly awake, but he looked like he wasn't feeling too hot.

"Hey, you don't have to stay up. You can go lay down in your bed."

"Oh, quit your seducing, Mr. Pudge," he said, like he was a flustered Southern Belle.

"Whatever, man, just go to bed, you look like shit."

"You know, you're just _so fucking __**nice**_ tonight."

"Seriously, Chip, just go to bed. You've got a weekend before classes start and you're gonna start senior year off badly."

The Colonel rolled his eyes and climbed up to the top bunk. He still wasn't wearing a shirt, and I didn't blame him, it was hell in our room. I took off my shirt, and just slept in my boxers. Before I knew it, I was asleep, in a pool of my own sweat.


	2. Past Experiences

**Still don't own a thing. It's all John Green (who's a fantastic writer, check out more of his work if you haven't already) Hope you enjoy :)**

I woke up the next morning at 9:00. I put on an old T-Shirt that my dad got at a concert a while back before he met my mom, and pair of baggy shorts after a quick shower. I looked around for my sandals, and while I put them on, I glanced up at the top bunk; it was empty. "Colonel?"

"So you finally woke up?" I turned around and saw him standing in the doorway to the bathroom. His hair was wet and he was in fresh clothes; a navy blue T-shirt and jean shorts that were longer on him than they probably should have been, but you know, short people got problems too.

"When did you get up?"

"I've been awake since 4:00." My eyebrows rose and he saw it. "What?"

"Why were you awake, we went to bed at like, 2:00?"

"I threw up again," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry; what?"

"I puked, like four different times. I'm surprised you didn't hear me, I was pretty loud."

"Dude, you sound like you shouldn't even be here."

"I'm fine, I told you already! Man, don't you fucking listen?"

"Fine, I'll stop." The Colonel rolled his eyes and walked to his drawer. He pulled out an orange bottle and removed the cap. He picked out a white capsule and walked towards the door.

"You comin' or what?"

I walked towards him and we went down to my car. He took a swig of water from the fountain and took the pill. "What is that?"

"It's an antibiotic; helps the pneumonia go away." He said the last words like I was five years old.

"I'm just looking out for you, Colonel."

"I don't need you to look out for me, Pudge; I can look out for myself."

"Well, pardon my intrusion of trying to be a good friend."

"You don't need to look out for me every waking moment of my life to be a good friend."

"Well, according to past experience, I guess I do." The Colonel stopped walking and stared at me. Whatever signs of a bad temper he had were completely gone. He nodded, which I guess was a thank you, and we went to McInedible. We got a large order of fries to share, and a couple hamburgers, then went back to my car to eat them. There was a long silence while we chomped away at extremely processed food.

"I'm not gonna get myself drunk and drive, Pudge, you know that." I turned to the Colonel, who was looking out the window. "I wouldn't do anything that stupid."

We ate for a while, and eventually headed back to campus. As we walked back to our room, I broke the silence. "So that's why you didn't smell like cigarettes."

"What?"

"When I met you last year, you smelled like cigarettes, but you didn't this time. Thank God, my parents would've lost their shit, but you didn't because you had pneumonia for two months."

"Wow, no wonder you were accepted into Culver Creek, Pudge; you're Albert fucking Einstein."

"Shut up," I replied, sensing the sarcasm he laid on pretty heavy. "But… why'd you have it for so long?"

"… My dad."

"What about him?"

"He wouldn't stop smoking those damn cigars, and I just couldn't get better from the cold. He would come back every once in a while, especially while I had pneumonia, and all he'd do was smoke. Smoke, smoke, smoke, it's like he didn't have anything better to do."

"Or anyone to try to kill."

"Exactly; my mom kicked him out because he was smoking too much, and it caused my lungs to seize up one night. I had to go to the ER for that one. They gave me this." He held up an inhaler. "It's only for emergencies, since I don't actually have asthma."

We made our ways up to the room, but not without smelling smoke. One of the Weekday Warriors was smoking, and they were smoking a lot. The Eagle wasn't at school yet, so they could get away with it. The smoke hit like a wall, but it hit The Colonel like a Mack truck. He started coughing and hacking, but instead of running away from it, his lungs seized up so much that he almost collapsed completely. He sank to the ground, unable to speak. I caught him before he fell completely, and tried to get him on his feet so that he could go to our non-polluted room.

I pulled him to his feet, which was a struggle (he's small, but heavy) and rushed to our room. He made his way to the couch and collapsed onto it. He used the inhaler and the cough was gone in less than five seconds. He lay on the couch, hyper-ventilating. "You ok?"

He nodded and coughed a few times. "Been through that… too many t.. times. Happened a lot… when dad sm-smoked at h- home."

"Dude, you need to get over this pneumonia thing, before you do anything. No smoking, no drinking, no nothing."

"You sound like my wife," he said with closed eyes. He ended up falling asleep right there for six hours. I finally tossed him a pillow and blanket (he managed to cover himself and lay on the pillow all in his sleep) when the Eagle walked in. After last year's mishap with him catching us smoking, he knew what we were capable of, but he came in talking loudly. I almost shushed him, but he did that himself when he saw The Colonel sleeping on the foam couch.

"Hello, Mr. Halter."

"Good afternoon, sir."

"I hope that your summer was nice."

"Yes it was, sir."

"What's the matter with Mr. Martin here?"

"He fell asleep, sir, he told me he was getting over a bad case of pneumonia."

"Yes," he said remembering. He knew what was wrong, he was just making sure I wouldn't lie to protect the Colonel just in case he was drunk. "His mother told me he was very sick over the summer. She told me she would have to pay some pretty hefty medical bills, since he had to be rushed to the ER twice."

As if on cue, the Colonel started coughing. The coughs were deep, and kind of raspy, but painful nonetheless. They sounded real, but he was trying to get the Eagle to stop talking. The Eagle caught the message, and turned around. "Don't kill yourself, Chip. Let yourself get better this time."

"I'll try." The Eagle smiled and closed the door.

"What'd he mean this time?"

"Sophomore year, I got really sick right after second semester started. Alaska about lost her shit when it had been nearly two weeks and I still wasn't better.

"It sucked, but everyone thought I had the flu. I had that "flu" for 2 weeks straight," he said putting air quotes when he said 'flu'. "All I did was continue to get worse and worse; Alaska, one time, stayed with me two nights in a row. I already reached that point where I was too sick to go to class, but I didn't want to go to a hospital to have people tell me I just had the flu and tell me to go drink fluids and go to sleep. I was tired of that shit. So, I stayed in my room for another week, and on the last two days, Alaska was there."

The Colonel coughed a few times before continuing. "She knew that something was really wrong with me, but she didn't know anything or where to start. I stayed up all night throwing up, I had this rash, and I was really confused. All I really remember is being really sore, really hot _and_ cold, and having this monster headache. This went on for two days, but on the second day, Alaska told me that she asked me a question once and I didn't answer. She went to check on me and when she did, I was having a massive seizure. When I came to, I was in the hospital and Alaska was losing her shit, you know, the way she used to. She started screaming at me, telling me how stupid I was for waiting, even though it really wasn't my fault. I just got fed up with people telling me something I knew I didn't have.

"I went on to recover from _the Staph Infection_ I got, plus a nice little helping of TSS. Yeah, I didn't have no damn flu, you little shits, but that recovery sure as hell took its sweet time. My teachers excused me from some work... a lot of work, and Alaska and Takumi brought me all my stuff so I could just stay in my room. The bathroom got cleaned too, like it was brand new."

"Why?"

"Because Staph Infections can be passed through feet and open wounds; my whole room was cleaned. So yeah, that's my story of how I could have failed my Sophomore year, but didn't because of a Staph Infection... thanks, dad; sorry to make you jealous, Pudgy."

I rolled my eyes like I didn't care, but I did. I wish I had gotten a Staph infection so Alaska would have taken care of me. "I'll bet it was nice," I whispered.

"What?"

"Having her take care of you."

"Oh, **_hell_** no, Alaska had the shittiest bedside manner this side of the universe has ever seen. I know you were like her long forgotten lover, Pudge, but it sucked."

I laughed because it seemed so like her, to have a horrible bedside manner. "I miss her," the Colonel said suddenly.

"I do too… I wonder how she would've reacted to you getting pneumonia."

"Oh God," he said falling back on the couch. "She would've skinned me and my dad alive_."_

He started to imitate her voice. _"Damn it, Chip, you need to stop smoking those damn cigarettes. You're taking poor Pudge's money, and killing your lungs_."

I laughed out loud. "She really sounded like that to you?"

He imitated her again. "_Absolutely_."

We laughed again, and turned the TV on. SpongeBob was on, so we just watched it until the Colonel fell back asleep. By then, three episodes had passed and I was kind of tired too, and before I knew it, we were both passed out.

"Well, look at you two," a voice said that woke me up immediately. I sat up a little and rubbed my eyes, staring at the clock. It was 12:00, but light outside.

"We slept through the whole morning," I shouted.

"Yeah, over 12 hours and cuddling with the Colonel, I see." I looked over and saw that I was hugging his leg, like a pillow. I stood up and walked over to the bathroom, The Colonel was out like a light, bundled up in a blanket, and I undressed to take a shower. I was washing my hair when Takumi walked in. "So are things getting serious between you two?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, knowing it was a joke. "Look, he inhaled smoke and his lungs lost it. We both just fell asleep on the couch."

"I'm just messing with you, Pudge, calm your tits. So what's up with you?"

"Nothing..."

"Don't wanna smoke, or drink?"

"Nah, I told the Colonel that he can't do any of that until he gets better; I'd feel like I'm rubbing it in his face."

"Fine, do what you want." Takumi started to light a cigarette.

"Dude, don't light that!"

"Why not?"

"I just told you, he's sick, he can't handle that."

Takumi rolled his eyes, threw the cigarette in the toilet and flushed. "Making me waste perfectly good cigarettes."

"You're doing that yourself." We left the bathroom, and sat on the ground in front of the couch, since the Colonel was still sleeping, and played a video game on low volume. It was a fighting game, not sure which one, but the girls were all really hot. I won the first four games, but then Takumi started kicking everyone's ass. We cheered as silently as we could, but after another victory for Takumi, a deep voice came from behind us.

"For the love of God, put that shit on mute!" We did and the Colonel turned around. "Thanks."

And we played video games on mute while he slept, until my radio went off on my alarm clock at 7:30.

**Don't trust me too much about medical problems, I am NOT a professional in the least. I just do some research on the Internet, so if I'm wrong about something like that, feel free to tell me, and I'll try to correct it in the future :) **


	3. Old Married Couple

**I ****_still_**** don't own ****_Looking for Alaska_****. Hope you enjoy :)**

The Colonel started feeling better the day classes started, which was a Monday, and only his symptoms returned every now and then. He wasn't coughing, or gasping, and he could even withstand cigarettes, but apparently only second-hand smoke. He would let me smoke all I wanted, but he didn't, because he didn't want his symptoms to flare up again, since he was still taking antibiotics, and they made him feel nauseous.

"I guess it's because I haven't had 'em in a while."

"Yeah, I guess." I lit one in the bathroom with the steam on high. Takumi had joined me, and as we smoked, we could hear the Colonel yelling at the game he was playing. When we left, kind of moist and sweating, we sat beside him on the couch. "What were _you two_ doing?"

"Having a smoke."

"Sounds fun."

"It was."

"I know, I was just stating the obvious. So what classes are you taking, Takumi?"

"Government, Calculus, Japanese history, Music Appreciation, and a few others."

"Honing those MC skills, huh?"

"Hardly, it's difficult to hone what's already sheer perfection." The comment made the Colonel laugh, and he beat his opponent with a big finishing move. "Woo, hot damn that was beeeaautiful!"

Takumi laughed and imitated Chip's Alabama accent. "You're such a redneck, Colonel."

"And you're such a rice farmer, Takumi." Takumi laughed at the comeback and hit him on the shoulder. I don't really remember the last time I saw them being so friendly with each other (especially since that last comment was kinda racist). Now I know what Takumi felt like last year.

"Ok, enough of the stereotypical insults, let's go eat." We went down to the cafeteria to get delicious Bufriedos, and took some back upstairs, where we put them in the fridge. Then, I read something for my government class, and went to bed. The Colonel had gone to bed about an hour before me, so I read in border-line darkness, and in dead silence. But boredom overwhelmed me, and my bed beckoned me.

He was completely over the pneumonia after about a few months, which is a really long time, because it was mid-November by the time he finally stopped coughing (probably because of the second-hand smoke). The school week went by slowly, and when Friday hit, I woke up before my alarm clock, and saw the Colonel was still sleeping. He's usually up and almost ready before I am, so the Colonel still sleeping was kind of weird. Anyways, I got up, showered and put on clothes, all in a matter of ten minutes. I turned off my alarm clock so he wouldn't be woken up by it. He began to stir at around 8:15, and the class he had, government (same as me), started at 8:30. He climbed down the bed, grabbed some clothes, and took a five minute shower. I read the Einstein biography while he was getting ready, overwhelmed at the fact his last words were nowhere in sight, and I had eleven and two-thirds pages left of my book. The Colonel stood in the doorway of the bathroom, combing his hair. "I don't wanna go to class."

"Why not?"

"Don't feel good…" I glanced up from my book and stared intently at his face. He _looked_ like he didn't feel well; his eyes were a little glossy, his face was lacking some color, and he kind of dragged himself along instead of walking.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry, it's the cigarettes. I thought you were over that. I knew I shouldn't have smoked; damn second-hand smoke-"

"No, no, just shut up, it's not you, Pudge, I get over second-hand smoke, and it's not the pneumonia."

"Then, what's wrong with you?"

"Do you think I wouldn't have said it by now if I knew what was wrong?"

"I don't know!"

The Colonel stopped looking for painkillers to stare at me like I was stupid. "Whatever, but it's not you, and I have no fucking clue what it is."

"Should you be going to class?"

"I can't afford to miss the classes I have today."

"Just stay here, and go back to bed." He just shook his head and grabbed his stuff, rushing down the steps. I followed close behind and we went to our government class, which just to add, was so boring that I started doodling in my notebook French terms that I couldn't seem to remember on a big exam I had in French 2 last year. I glanced over at Takumi, who was sleeping, and the Colonel, who was looking straight forward at the wall. He had his head resting on his hand, and tapping his pencil to the beat of Bad Day.

He was like that until it was time to go, where he just gathered his stuff, and walked to where I was sitting. Takumi was asleep a few rows down, so the Colonel grabbed is book and slammed it in front of Takumi's face. Takumi fell out of his chair from the nice wake up call, and the Colonel almost fell down he was laughing so hard. He stopped once Takumi got back up, and he winced. I knew he was trying to hide it, because he turned his body towards Takumi so I wouldn't see it, knowing Takumi wouldn't have caught him since he was too busy trying to think of a comeback to outdo the Colonel.

But I saw it anyways.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon, let's go." He left without saying anything else and we just followed. He grabbed his stuff and began his journey back to our room. We walked side by side and he walked at a normal pace, his strides significantly shorter than mine (Takumi had gone to go smoke off campus, FYI). When we made it back to the room, the Colonel walked up the ladder, and collapsed onto the bed. The bunk bed shook, whining for a shot of WD-40, and stopping once the shaking ended.

"When's your next class?"

"Noon."

"Do you want me to wake you up?"

"Yeah."

"Ok." And he fell asleep. He slept until about 11:50, even though I woke him up ten minutes before; he just mumbled a reply, but fell back asleep. He had Advanced Latin next, and I had French 3. I got my stuff ready, and he started climbing down the bed, slowly. He walked to his closet and grabbed his Latin book, which I guess he kept in there. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, his breath slightly shaky. I didn't bother asking if he was ok…

Because I knew he wasn't.

I left after him and followed right behind. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"How do _you_ know something's wrong with me? No one else can see it."

"I don't know how, it's pretty damn obvious."

He smirked. "Damn, she was right."

"What?"

"Alaska… she was right."

"What was she right about?"

"We're such an old married couple..."


	4. Getting Worse

**I've been looking for Looking for Alaska, and I still don't have it in my possession... too bad.**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

A week passed of constantly asking the Colonel if he was ok, and him blowing me off, answering me indirectly, or saying he was fine. However, since he had been "fine" for almost over a week, his façade was starting to fall. He took more naps during the day (he already took quite a few) and looked sicker and sicker, to the point where I couldn't believe he was still going to class. It hit the peak where I had to stop him from getting ready.

"What are you doing," he mumbled sleepily.

"Sorry, Colonel, but you look like complete and utter shit." He tried to get away from me, but he gave up quickly. "Is there a thermometer somewhere?"

"Should be in the First-Aid kit."

I went to go search for that in the bathroom. Drawer after cabinet was checked, and still nothing came up with a Red Cross or big blue letters.

"Hey, genius." I turned around when the First-Aid kit was tossed in my direction. The Colonel already had the thermometer and he stuck it in his mouth. It beeped about a few seconds later, it beeped and he glanced down at it. I grabbed it from him before he could turn it off, and read the digital number.

"Hundred point two," he said.

"Yeah, that's not good," I replied, turning off the thermometer. I set it on the desk, and stared at the Colonel. "You can't go to class with a temperature that high."

"Who's gonna stop me?"

"I am."

"Oh yeah, like I'm _soooo_ scared of big bad Miles Halter. Be sure to catch me when I faint."

"C'mon, just stay here. You've got government today; I can give you the work for that."

"And what about Advanced Latin, or geography?"

"You really think you need to worry about geography?"

"Well… no… but Latin, I _need_ to go to that."

"I'll go ask the teacher for work and everything you need."

"He's strict, Pudge, it's not something where you can walk up and ask." Which was the truth; I didn't know his name, but I knew the Latin teacher was pretty old-fashioned and stern.

"If he doesn't believe me, I'll come get you."

The Colonel just stared at me for a while before shrugging his shoulders. "Fine, I'll stay… but you gotta get _all_ my stuff, got it?"

"Yeah, I'll get it." The Colonel climbed back up the ladder, lying on his bed delicately. He was asleep before I left the room.

The day ended and so did all the classes. I took my backpack with me to my last class so I could put all of the Colonel's stuff in there when I take it back to him. He hadn't been at lunch, so I assumed he just stayed behind to sleep. As I walked back to the dorm, Takumi walked beside me with Lara.

"Sup Pudge-man?"

"Just going back to my room."

"Why do you have so much stuff?"

"Some of it is the Colonel's."

"He can't get his own shit?"

"No, I wouldn't let him. He's sick."

"Hasn't he been sick for like, the whole summer?"

"He says it's not the pneumonia, it's something else, but he doesn't know what."

"That doesn't sound good," Lara said.

"Yeah, he had a fever this morning." They followed me back upstairs, since Lara was going to hang out with Takumi anyway. I unlocked my room and opened the door, darkness greeting me at the entrance. I figured the Colonel was still sleeping, since the lights were off. I sat my stuff down at the desk, unpacked my bag, and sat his work on his dresser. I glanced towards the top bunk and saw him sprawled out on the bed, the bed tangled around his legs and torso. Takumi and Lara entered quietly, knowing if they woke up the Colonel, they'd have to face his burning fury.

Too bad they didn't know his fury burned like the end of an unlit cigarette right now.

I climbed the bed and held on to the railings. I was tall enough to see without doing that, but it was just a habit from my childhood. "Hey, rise-n-shine, Colonel Martin."

The Colonel didn't budge; his chest rose and fell with the same ease and rhythm it had before. "Hey, wake up, Colonel." Still nothing.

I shook his shoulder this time. "Don't do that, it makes me nauseous," he said, muffled by the pillow.

"How long have you been asleep?"

"All day."

"You didn't get up at all?"

"Nope."

"Not even to go to the bathroom?"

"No."

"How?"

"I got over it."

I rolled my eyes at the reply. Takumi and Lara had come in and sat down on the couch, making themselves comfortable in front of the TV. "I brought your work and everything."

"You got the Latin?"

"Yeah, the Eagle explained to your teachers what happened over the summer, and they're giving you a break."

"How sweet," he said sarcastically. He sat up and rubbed his eyes; his head didn't hit the ceiling when he sat up in the bed (perks of being short, I guess). He made his way down the ladder, wincing in the process, and he walked to the bathroom. We turned the TV up and watched _Napoleon Dynamite_, since it was on. We laughed pretty hard at times, but after about 15 minutes of that, I realized the Colonel hadn't come back from the bathroom. I stood up and walked to the bathroom, hoping he wasn't bathing and we'd have another awkward, one-of-us-naked meeting.

"You ok Ch-" The Colonel was leaning his head against the wall, breathing heavily. "Dude, you gotta go to a doctor, or something."

"I will… I might."

"_What_?"

"Look, man, it's nothing serious, and if I go to a doctor, that just screams trouble, ok?"

"Trouble? Why trouble?"

"Doesn't matter, go back out there. I'll be out in a bit." I didn't bother questioning him, because all he would've done is gotten angry. I sat back down on the couch and watched the movie, the Colonel coming back, just as he said. _"Napoleon Dynamite's_ on?"

"Yep."

"Sweet."

"You like this movie?"

"Hell yeah, this movie's the shit." We sat and watched more of it, laughing and joking around. Once the movie ended, Takumi and Lara left, "And then there were two."

"What time is it?"

"Time to get a watch, Pudgy… look at the damn clock." I turned around to look at the clock, even though it wouldn't have killed him to just tell me, and it was just past 9:00.

"So, have you caught up on all your work?"

The Colonel nodded, but immediately regretted it, holding his head in one hand. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and stretched out on the couch, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. We sat in silence for a few minutes when he suddenly mumbled. "I feel terrible."

"What's the matter?"

"My stomach hurts."

"How bad?"

"Pretty damn bad; it's been like this for a few days." When he said that, it grabbed my attention immediately. "Pretty bad" stomach aches usually didn't last long unless it was something serious.

"Go to a doctor, something could be wrong with you."

"Something is wrong with me."

"Well, what is it, smartass?"

He brought an arm up and covered his eyes. "Too many things to keep track of."

I mentally sighed. "I'm going to bed."

"Ok."

"Goodnight."

"Night." And I crawled into my bed, with the Einstein biography, that I ended up finishing that night. There were no known last words; the bitch who was with him didn't speak German. What a waste of a mind, not knowing what his genius thoughts were in the end.

I had fallen asleep a few moments after I finished and ranted a little in my head, but what seemed like not too long after, there was a deep voice calling my name.

"Pudge… Pudge, wake up. Pudge!"

"Wha- huh? What, do you want?"

"Where's the Tylenol or the Ibuprofen or whatever?"

"It's by my suitcase." I heard him rush over to it, open the bottle, and pour some into his hand. "Don't OD."

"I won't, calm down." He took the pills and fell onto the couch.

"Why do you need those?"

"My stomach still hurts…" I was still pretty tired so I just said ok and went back to sleep.

Damn, do I regret doing that...


	5. Too Damn Stubborn

**It's been a few days... and I still don't own Looking for Alaska. Too bad :/ Hope you enjoy :)**

I slept until 11:00 the next day and Sunday as well, since it was the weekend, and saw that the Colonel was on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. I remembered what had happened in the middle of the night two nights in a row, when he woke me up, and I sat up quickly.

"Colonel, are you ok?"

"Mmm." He turned around, letting out a shaky sigh. I got up to take a quick shower, before doing some homework and whatever I felt like doing. During mid-shower, Takumi just walked right the fuck into the bathroom.

"Sup, Pudgy."

"Dude!" I grabbed a towel. "Haven't you heard of knocking? Or listening for running water?"

"Yeah, we're friends, right? Besides, what if I was a hot chick, you wouldn't have had a problem with that."

I could feel the blood rush to my face at the thought. "What are you doing here?"

"I just stopped by to hang out; I saw the Colonel sacked out on the couch, is he _still_ not feeling well?"

"Yeah, I guess he's trying to wait it out." I wrapped the towel around my waist after putting on a pair of boxers and went back to the room, where I changed and sat beside the Colonel on the couch. Since he wasn't tall, I could sit comfortably on the couch and not bother him at all. I turned the TV on and put in a video game, giving Takumi another controller I brought from home. We played Decapitation for a while, which was kinda boring with the sound off (in respect for the Colonel), but we played for almost three hours.

When 2:00 hit, we paused the game to go get something to eat. "Do you want something, Colonel?"

He shook his head. "Not hungry," he mumbled.

"You sure?" He nodded and we left. We grabbed a few burgers and drove back to the dorm; I brought a small order of fries for the Colonel, just in case he became hungry while we were gone. We walked back to the room, talking about how Calculus was harder than we thought, despite taking the Pre- version of it last year. "Let's just ask the Colonel, he might be able to help."

"He's _still_ a horrible teacher, Pudge." I agreed and when I opened the door, he was still lying on the couch, facing the TV, but his knees were to his chest. He was shaking under the blanket, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Colonel, are you ok?" He didn't react at all, still shaking underneath the blanket. I dropped the bag on the coffee table and shook his shoulder. "Colonel?"

He didn't move and I shook him with some more force. He opened his eyes just barely, and glanced up at me, his eyes were foggier than the bathroom after a stressful day. "Chip, you look like shit."

"Feel like shit too.."

"Then you need to go to the nurse, or something."

"No, no, no," he said, his words slurring together slightly. "No doctor… I'm fine... I swear..."

I went to bed at 9:30 after a few stressful hours of Calculus and Literature Composition and was awakened by a small, shaky whisper, calling my name. "Pudge… wake up, man.. c'mon."

I rubbed my eyes. "What?"

"It hurts, man, this shit hurts."

"Hey, calm down." I sat up and saw him on the couch. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, and he rocked on his knees, his head resting against the cool leather of the back of the couch. "Doctor, _you need a doctor_."

"No.. no, no, no, we've already talked about this, Pudge."

"This could be serious!"

"The reason doesn't matter, just… please." I sighed and sat beside him on the couch. He was shaking and his breathing was fast, a small wheezing sound appearing every so often. He coughed a few times, but they were the kind that sounded like you were choking on something, so I pat his back a few times, but he just moved away. "You're gonna make me puke."

I sat beside him and shook my head. "You're too damn stubborn, man..."

He went through this for two more nights; two more nights of puking and wonderfully colored vocabulary. He finally fell asleep on the last day at 4:00 am. He also would refuse the hospital every time I offered or suggested it. I thought I was going to have to drag him until the next day, the pain was gone, and so was the fever. It confused us both, but neither of us questioned it, and he went to his classes that day. Once they were all over, I helped him catch up on Religion, since we had a test in two days, while he helped me with Calculus (as best as he could). We went to bed after an hour and a half of that; while we laid on our beds, top and bottom bunk, I asked the Colonel if he was ok.

"I'm fine, Pudge, honestly... I _actually_ feel better."

We slept like we hadn't in a week, but I almost jumped out of bed when a loud thud hit the ground in front of me. I looked around the room for intruders, but all I found was the Colonel, on the ground, holding his back. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I was trying to climb down, and I fell."

"You fell? How?"

"I lost my footing."

"You _never_ lose your footing coming down from the top bunk," he said in a dazed voice. He _never_ _ever_ fell from the top bunk; he could jump the top bunk and land on his feet like a cat. "What actually happened?"

"I got really dizzy." I helped him up to my bed, where he fell back and coughed. "Can I sleep down here?"

"Yeah; sure." I got up from the bed and exchanged pillows, where I heard his shallow breaths enter and exit his lungs as he fell asleep. I moved up to the top bunk; a top bunk man for one more night.


	6. Underlying Reasons

**Sorry for the long wait, I finally got around to typing the rest of this chapter. Hope you enjoy :)**

**I don't own ****_Looking for Alaska_**

Sunday came around and the Colonel stayed behind; we didn't have anything to do, so I went roaming through great ole Alabama, which wasn't very interesting. But when I came back, he was lying on the couch, bundled up in his blanket, as well as mine, watching _Forrest Gump._ "Hey."

"Hey," he said quickly, his voice pinched. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing really… I read a little, but there wasn't much to do."

"It's 'cause you didn't have any cash." I took off the bag that I used to carry a few books with me while I walked (big mistake) through the town.

_"Forrest Gump,_ huh?" He nodded. "I didn't know you were into the sentimental movies."

"It's not the sentimentality that makes this movie awesome."

"Then what makes it awesome?"

"The fact this guy, who's obviously not the brightest crayon in the box because he's got an IQ of 75, can go through his life as if everything he did was nothing special; he just casually talks about it like all his success and hardships were just all in a fucking day's work. He's gone through so much shit, like getting bullied as a kid, wearing those god-awful leg braces, the Vietnam war, losing his best friend, his mom, and the love of his life all in one sitting… at least it's like one sitting to the audience. "

He moved a little so he could see my face, wincing in the process. "But he also did some amazing shit… like his football career in college, saving those guys in Vietnam, starting that shrimp boat business for his buddy that died… giving Bubba's mama the money he owed him…" He sighed heavily and coughed a few times before continuing.

"Sorry, I smoked a couple before coming here." Which was a lie; I had smoked a lot before coming back to our room because I figured the Colonel was over his pneumonia and he'd be ok with it, but apparently he just wasn't used to it.

He ignored me anyway. "Taking care of Jenny when she was an absolute _bitch_ to him, and even taking in their son after she died, cuz he could have left the kid behind, but no, Forrest was a good guy... a good _dad…_ Man, he was the best human being to ever walk this planet…" His voice broke a little on the last word. He faced the TV more and sighed again. We sat in silence for a few minutes when he whispered something I'll be willing to bet he didn't intend for me to hear.

"Wish _my_ dad was like him…"

I saw him wipe his face with both hands as he sat up on the couch; I couldn't tell if he was doing that because he laid down all day, was still exhausted, or if he was trying not to show that even the big bad Colonel had a heart for sentimental movies.

"Sounds to me that the sentimentality _is_ what makes it awesome."

I read while he watched the movie and when it ended, at 6:30, he was passed out on the couch. I read the biography of Christine Granville until about 7:50 when I realized I was exhausted. Yeah, it sounds sad for a senior in high school to get tired at not-even-8:00, but I was. I climbed into bed, ready to be refreshed for the Religion test the next morning. I nodded off at probably around 8:00 or so, but I felt like I only slept for five minutes because mumbling woke me up. I use to sleep like a rock, so mumbling waking me up was a shock, even for me.

I glanced around the room for intruders, Weekday Warriors, or Takumi, but all I saw was an otherwise empty room, besides the Colonel who was sleeping restlessly on the couch…

_Oh shit!_ I thought and jumped from the bottom bunk. Rushing to the first aid kit, I looked for the thermometer, but couldn't find it, so I just went to the couch and sat on the coffee table. "Colonel, can you hear me?" He stopped mumbling a little bit ago, but now he was silent.

_Dead_ silent.

I shook his shoulder gently so he wouldn't snap out of it and cuss me out, but forceful enough so he'd wake up. "Chip, c'mon, answer me."

He blinked a few times and stared at me with glossy, unfocused eyes, oblivious to the world and everything in it. I couldn't take his temperature, but I could tell by his eyes and is flushed face that it must be pretty damn high. "Do you know where the thermometer is?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes again. "No, don't go to sleep yet, I gotta take your temperature." I walked out the door and over to the wing of Weekday Warriors; it pained me to consult with the enemy for a thermometer, but I wasn't willing to risk the Colonel's life to make sure his obsession with loyalty wasn't ruined. I knew Takumi didn't have a thermometer, because he lent it to someone, who did God knows what to and with it. I knocked on a door, not knowing who was in what door. The door opened with angry force, and it was the one person who I hoped would not answer.

"You… you're Chip's roommate." I nodded and almost began to ask for his first aid kid, if he even had one, but he started talking again. "What the hell do you want? Did he send you down here?"

There must have been some kind of disagreement or brawl over the summer that I didn't know about, because he sounded angry when he talked about the Colonel. "Uh, I just came to ask if you have a thermometer in a first aid kit."

He stared at me with suspicious eyes. "Why?"

Shit, I didn't expect to explain. If I told him it was for the Colonel, he wouldn't give me one if he had one. "I uh, think I may be starting to get sick… might have caught what th- Chip, had over the summer."

"Yeah, I heard about that from the Eagle… he made us both swear not to get on the other's bad side, especially him, since he's _so damn special."_

"He had pneumonia, Kevin."

"That doesn't mean he gets special treatment."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Look, can I just have the thermometer?"

"Yeah, whatever… just return it." He left for a moment and came back with a fancy, ear thermometer. "You press that button and bam, it works."

"Thanks, Kevin."

"Yup." And we parted ways. I rushed back to the room and saw the Colonel still on the couch, sleeping again. I woke him again, and took his temperature; 105.1 degrees.

"Yeah, you're going to the Emergency Room." I helped him to his feet and we made our way down to the doors to the student cars. It took a while to go down a flight of stairs, but we made it. I grabbed his wrist to make sure we rushed out of there before anyone could see us. We rushed to my car and the Colonel said the first thing he'd said in hours.

"Don't go.. so fast…"

"We gotta go, man."

"I know… it just hurts." We got into the car and I drove as fast as I could to the nearest ER.

"Sorry, but I didn't plan on taking my obviously sick and almost dying roommate to the ER at… 3:00 in the morning."

"I'm really dizzy," he said, ignoring my comment completely. He was breathing faster than he had before, partially because we rushed out to the car. He was really pale, and just by hearing how fast he was breathing, I guessed his heart was on a rampage in his chest. When we hit bumps, the Colonel would writhe quietly in the passenger's seat. i would apologize after every bump and reassure him that we were almost there. We finally reached the hospital after almost ten minutes (a little past 8 to be exact), and I rushed in, pulling the Colonel by his arm close behind me.

"Hi, miss… my roommate, Chip Martin, has been really sick for the past week and a half, and he's really dizzy and confused."

"What are his other symptoms, honey?"

"Uh, I don't know… he said something about hurting, like his stomach?" I turned to ask him, but he had made his way across the room into an empty chair. He was doubled over, his hands covering his face. The nurse asked another nurse, named Leah, to follow me to where he was sitting and get his symptoms. She walked up to him and knelt in front of him.

"Sweetie, can you tell me what's wrong?" She spoke without a Southern drawl, which was nice to hear, but strange. The Colonel was incapacitated by whatever was wrong with him.

"Maybe if you ask him yes or no questions," I suggested. She more than likely wasn't going to get an answer from him using words.

She nodded and turned back to the Colonel. "I was told you've been having pain, is it in your abdomen?" He nodded.

"How long has he been complaining," she asked me.

"He hasn't," I replied. "He hasn't complained, really… I had to drag him here. He just said every so often that he was hurting, and that I shouldn't take him to an ER."

She smirked and pressed the back of her hand up against his forehead. "Wow, he's burning up."

Suddenly it hit me; I forgot to tell her how high his temperature was. In a frantic voice, I told her what it was. Her eyes grew wide and she rushed back to the station where all the nurses seemed to group and wait for cases. She told the nurse at the front desk, the one we spoke to first, and she immediately called someone. The non-Southern sounding nurse named Leah brought out a wheelchair, which the Colonel slowly sat down in, not because he was reluctant to sit down in a wheelchair, but because he was in so much pain.

She quickly took him back to a room, but told me I couldn't go too. "Why not?"

"I don't know what's wrong with your friend, but judging by the fever, and how pale he is, and how cold his arms are… I think he's gone into septic shock, and knowing he's having abdominal pain that has literally kept him from speaking, this could be serious. We'll have to run a few tests." I sat outside and waited for almost an hour before they told me that I could back. They showed me what room to go to; room 33.

I walked in and sat in the chair that was beside the bed. There was probably a chair like that in every room. These chairs have been there for people who were watching their child recover from a tonsillectomy by eating gallons of ice cream, or wondering when their husband or wife was going to wake up from a coma, or for little kids who were too short to say their last goodbye to grandpa.

I wondered what my story would be once I sat down.

The Colonel was in a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV, a heart monitor, and an oxygen tank. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was a lot less jagged and frantic. I braved my fears and sat down in the chair. I sat in silence for a while, just staring at all the machines they managed to hook him up to.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." I jumped a little when he spoke. "Damn, calm down, Pudge."

"I'm sorry, I just- I- I didn't…"

The Colonel stared at me for a few moments. "Wow, you're a wreck."

I sighed heavily and wiped my face with both hands. "I'm stressing you out," he whispered.

"What- no, no, I'm just ti-"

"No, I'm stressing you out," he said a little more sternly. I could tell he was frustrated with my not agreeing with him and even more with _him_, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"So, do they know what's wrong with you?"

"They took tests… I got a CT scan. They think I've got peritonitis."

"What's that?"

"Inflammation of the abdominal wall… they think it's secondary; probably caused by a ruptured appendix."

"_Ruptured?_"

"Yeah… wait, do you remember when I was feeling really shitty and then it all of a sudden stopped?"

I furrowed my eyebrows trying to remember. "Oh, yeah, I do."

"I'll bet that's when it ruptured."

"Dude, that had to be like three days ago."

"Yep… this infection must've made a meal of me." He smirked at his own joke.

"Chip, this is serious!"

"Oh, lighten up, Pudge. Damn, you sound like Alaska." The comment held annoyance; the same annoyance he would use when she got moody.

"Sorry for caring."

"No, no, no, no, don't start that shit again. I'm sorry for being a good friend," he said mocking my voice. "Shut up, Miles, I'm not Alaska. If this kills me, then it kills me… I don't need you breathing down my neck every minute of my life."

I stared at him, speechless. We had already had this conversation, earlier in the year, but this time was weird. He was actually staring death in the face… I could actually lose a close friend right before my eyes. I wasn't mad at him, even though I wanted to be; I was too scared to be mad.

But this time, the conversation felt… _different_.

"I'm sorry, Colonel-"

"Don't apologize, it's over." He flipped on the television and we watched some show on TV; I couldn't remember the name, but it was hilarious. We laughed our way through almost two episodes when the Colonel fell silent.

"You okay?" He was still or at least trying to be still; he was shaking slightly. He shook his head before relaxing against the pillows; his breathing pattern became just as shaky as his body. "What's wrong?"

"Hurts…" He hunched over a little and breathed deeply.

"Do you want me to call someone?" He shook his head and sat back up.

"Actually, grab that phone… call my mom, would ya?"

I grabbed the phone and dialed the number he told me to. It was the number to the Waffle House, because she was working a 24 hour shift. "It's something it does every two weeks, and she works 'em all. But hey, she makes some hefty bank."

"Good mornin', this is the Waffle House, what can I do ya for?"

"Uh, hi… this is Miles Halter, c-can I speak to Dolores Martin? I'm her son's roommate."

The woman who answered the phone handed the phone to Dolores, her voice in the background saying, "He says he's Chip's roomy."

"Miles, how are ya doing? Don't ya got classes this mornin'?"

"Normally, but I'm actually in the ER."

"Oh honey, I'm sorry to hear that, but shouldn't ya be callin your momma?"

"What? No, no, I'm fine… I had to bring Chip to the Emergency Room." There was a silence on the other end.

"What happened?"

"He just got really sick and when his fever got too high, I had to bring him here."

"Let me talk to him." I handed him the phone, but he was lying on his side.

"Put it on speaker." I pressed the speaker button and placed it back on the table.

"Chip Martin, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"I ain't gettin' into nothing!" The Colonel's southern drawl came out full swing when he raised his voice.

"Yes ya are, makin' poor Miles take ya to the ER. Do ya know how scared he musta been?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Listen to me, boy; ya got a nasty habit a thinkin' whatever's wrong with ya is 1) Nobody's business and 2) not important. I better not catch ya doin' that again, ya hear? If yur sick, then tell somebody before it gets worse. Now, it done got worse... tell me what happened."

The Colonel was silent; the only person who could shut him up was his mother. "They told me I got secondary peritonitis."

"Boy, now you know I ain't got a damn clue what that shit is."

"It's an infection, mom, I got it from a ruptured appendix. That means it burst."

"Yeah, I know." She was quiet for a little bit. "Honey, ya know I got this 24 hour at the Waffle House."

"And I don't expect you to leave, mom."

"But I'm gon have to cuz I'm sure you're gon have to have surgery and I'm gonna need all the greenbacks I can get to pay off those bills." The Colonel fell silent again, with a heavy sigh his eyes looked down at his lap. Dolores could tell something was wrong, and she politely asked. "Miles, dear, can ya leave for a moment?"

I stood from the chair and left, taking this time to call my own parents at the payphone.

Meanwhile, in the Colonel's room, the conversation went on. "Chip, I know it upsets you when you can't help me out with money… and you know that when you get sick, you get sick. I've always had to rush ya to the hospital for some reason, but ya can't let that eat at ya."

"But it does, mom! It bothers me that you spend so much money on me. If I just wouldn't get sick all the damn time-"

"You don't and you never have, Chip. Ya get so sick cuz ya don't tell nobody when ya are! Sweetheart, promise me somethin'."

"Hm?"

"If you're feelin sick ever again, tell Miles… he cares about ya, at least he wants to. You've got a good friend with ya… don't let this be like ya sophomore year." The Colonel smirked and sniffed.

"Ok, mom… I promise."

"Good… now, I'm gonna talk to my manager about takin' a small break to come down and see ya."

"I'm gonna have surgery in a little bit, and it takes two hours to come down here."

"I know… that's why I'm gon ask." The Colonel sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Ok, mom."

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dolores smiled.

"Focus on gettin' better, hun. We'll be able to pay those bills somehow, ok?" The Colonel sniffed again.

"Yeah," he whispered.

"Atta boy; tell Miles I said thank you and I'll see ya probably when ya outta surgery."

"'Kay, mom."

"Love you, Chip."

"Love you too, mom." And he hung up. I was waiting outside the door the entire time so I wouldn't barge in on their conversation when instead, I heard it all. The Colonel wouldn't tell me anything because he thought, or at least was hoping, that whatever he had was something he could just sleep off, when no matter how you slice it, it would result in medical bills.

He didn't want to burden his mom more than he already had to.

I walked back in a few seconds after he hung up. He had quickly regained his composure and was sitting up in the bed. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey… you ok?"

He nodded and glanced down at his hand, the one with the IV. "You heard it, didn't you?"

"Yeah… I did."

"Sorry…"

"Why are you sorry?"

"I'm always doing this… I-I've been like this for as long as I can remember; not telling people when I was sick, and then having to go to the hospital because I kept my mouth shut."

"Well, we all know you're a stickler for keeping mouths shut." He smiled. "Do you just not trust people?"

"No, it's not that… I guess it's just I think I'm bothering people."

"But you're not… if you don't feel good, tell someone."

"I know, I know… there's some underlying reasons why I don't tell people."

"Like what?"

"Like-" The Colonel cut himself off when he grabbed the railings on the bed and doubled over.

"What's wrong?"

"Get someone."

"What?"

"Just get someone, Pudge!" I rushed out of the room and grabbed the closest nurse; it was Leah.

"Something's wrong, he just told me to get someone." She rushed in and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" He nodded. "We'll get you prepped for surgery in a moment."

Sweat was pouring down his face; whatever color was in his face was gone now, and tears threatened to fall, but he blinked rapidly so they wouldn't. The Colonel wasn't afraid to cry about something sad or heartbreaking, but he was embarrassed to cry over pain caused by illness or injury.

It was probably due to those underlying reasons he tried to tell me about, but couldn't.


	7. 8 Hours

Sorry for the late update! I've been so busy and I haven't had the time to type Enjoy this chapter and I will make an effort to update faster! I don't own Looking for Alaska ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Colonel was in surgery for a total of eight hours. Those eight hours felt like years with the anxiety and exhaustion I felt piling on top of each other. I stared at the clock when it was time for my religion class that both he and I would obviously not make it to. And I studied so hard for it. I started dozing off at 9:00 in the waiting room when a hand shook my shoulder. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" It was Leah. "Yeah, but I'd already be 45 minutes late to my first class and I'm not going to just leave him here after having surgery." "What is he, your boyfriend or something?" "No, it's just… I already lost a really good friend this year in a bad car wreck. I don't want my closest friends to all die in one year." Leah was just joking about the comment before, but I took the time to be serious and honest; losing Alaska was something that hurt me so much emotionally that I felt the pain physically. "Sorry, I didn't mean-" "No, you're fine… our friend used to joke about that too… she'd say we were like an old married couple." "How," she asked, not trying to stifle her laughter. "We always seem to know when the other needs something, or when something's wrong…" "Well, that's interesting…" I laughed. "He was the first friend I made at Culver Creek, even though we weren't really friends at first… If he died, and I wasn't here, I…" My voice broke off when I realized how much it'd hurt to know the Colonel was dead; it would hurt from anger, just like when Alaska died. It would be pure anger and frustration towards his stupidity and stubbornness. "It's ok, Miles, I understand." Leah patted my shoulder. I suddenly broke down into a heap of tears and sobs. "I'd hate myself, Leah… I'd have to get up every day knowing that I'd have a single room, just like Alaska did, because of my roommate's stupidity and my own stupidity. I should have called 911 or his mom or something, so that he wouldn't be in this situation." I felt her arms wrap around my boney shoulders, embracing me. "I usually try to avoid saying this to the families and friends, but he'll be ok, Pudge… everything will be alright." I cried into her shoulder; I knew it was awkward, because I had just met her that day and she was about six to seven years older than me, so I hoped that I wasn't gaining feelings for her or anything. It waited in the waiting room for an extra two hours and finally, the doctor came back, wearing a mask and blue outfit. "Is he ok?" "He's outta surgery and situated in the ICU… I'd suggest waiting for a little while before going to see him, because he's still out cold and it did take some time to remove all the damaged tissue and fix the infected organs." "Was it really that bad?" "Yes, son, it was… there was extensive damage to the tissue, and we had to remove a lot of it, and the only organ infected by the infection was his stomach, and thankfully, that damage was very small, so it was a quick fix. He's going to have a lengthy road to full recovery, but he'll get there as long as he stays on antibiotics and rests. I'll send a nurse to tell you when you can go see him." "Thanks, doc, you're the greatest." He smiled and walked away. I continued to wait until that nurse came in. I was doing a lot of waiting in that waiting room; it was starting to annoy me. Sitting in a waiting room was already annoying and tiresome, but there was always a thick atmosphere of anxiety and hopelessness. I fell back asleep on the small couch when a nurse named Edna walked up to me. "Your buddy's in ICU and you're free to go see him when you'd like, hun." I woke up slowly and stood from the couch even slower, hearing and feeling every vertebrae crack and groan from lack of use and being scrunched up on the couch. I walked to ICU, where they told me to put on a mask and some blue gear so the Colonel wouldn't get sicker than he already was. I walked into his room; it was white and very clean, but the lights were low. He was lying on the bed, wearing a nasal cannula instead of the ventilator tube, which apparently had been removed about half an hour before I showed up. I sat in the chair beside his bed, and again… waited. His eyes fluttered open and he turned to face me. He looked drowsy, drugged, and completely confused; a look that wasn't on the Colonel's face often. "Afternoon, Colonel." He glanced at me, then around the room, and then back at me. "Who're you?" I panicked when he asked the question, but I realized he couldn't see my face behind the white mask, on top of being drugged like you wouldn't believe. "Oh sorry." I pulled the mask down, despite it being a hazard to his health. "It's me…" He stared at me for a while before slurring, "Pudge?" "Yeah, it's me," I said pulling the mask back up. "Pudge…" I nodded, but he continued repeating my nickname. "Pudge…" I stifled a laugh; I'd seen the Colonel wasted like no other, but this was a new sight… A groggy and drugged up on painkillers Chip Martin was hilarious, even though it was because he just had surgery that saved his life. "Wha- 'appen…." "You had appendicitis, remember? Secondary peritonitis and you went into-" "I went into?" "Yeah, you went into-" "Where'd I go?" I smiled a little. "You didn't go anywhere, man, you went into septic shock." "Where's that?" I tried to hide my laughter, even though he probably wouldn't remember me laughing at him anyways. "Never mind." Leah walked in wearing a mask and gloves. "How're you feeling, Chip?" He didn't reply; his head simply fell back onto the pillows. She didn't bat an eye at him, and checked the IV bag. "Any pain?" "Nope," he said, putting lots of emphasis on the 'p'. "I feel fine n' dandy peaches." She smiled at the comment. "That's good; I'm gonna have to check on those bandages, ok?" She pulled down the blanket and sheets and pulled up the gown. "Not much bleeding… that's good." The Colonel was silent the whole time, and she pulled down the gown and placed the sheets and blankets where they were. "Rest up, Chip, so you can sleep off that lasting anesthesia." He didn't react to her; he was starting to doze off. She smiled again and closed the door. "I saw that, Pudge." "Saw what?" "You… checking her out the way you do." He shook his head like he disapproved. "You're such a whore, Pudge-man." "What?" "Did I stutter," he slurred slowly. "You're… a… whore…" I rolled my eyes. "What time is it?" "It's almost a quarter til ten." "D'ya think Takumi should know about my… my thing?" "Surgery?" "Yeah that…" He slurred every sentence like he does when he's drunk, but he was right, we should tell him. "I'll tell him somehow." I left the room to see if I could call him somehow and tell him about our cute little trip to the ER. As I walked to the phone, I suddenly ran into someone I didn't think would be here, let alone know I was here. "Mr. Starnes…" "Hello, Mr. Halter." The Eagle glanced at me. "Fancy seein' you here…" "Same to you." "Why are ya here, Miles?" "I-uh… I brought Chip here late last night, sir." "Did ya now?" "Yes, sir…" "Is he alright?" "I believe he is now, sir. He had an appendectomy… for a ruptured appendix. It caused an infection and caused significant damage." "Sounds like he won't be up and at 'em for a while." "Yeah." He brought me over to a few chairs that were beside the front desk. "Miles, I came here because of two things. 1) I was told last night by a few students that you were helping Chip to get away for a while because he was drunk. And 2) I was going to ask you about it, but I saw you weren't in your room, and neither was Chip, and I got a call a few hours later from his mother saying he was in the hospital and that you had taken him there." "Who is lying about him getting drunk?" "I was told by them not to say their names-" "Tell me," I snapped. "It was Sara and a few other girls." I almost fell out of the chair; of course the Colonel's bitchy ex-girlfriend would do that. "So, you just came here to ask about that?" "Not necessarily… I also was very worried about him. He's been known for keeping secrets like this." "And almost killing himself," I finished. "Yes… that's one of the first things his mother told me before he came to Culver Creek. She's got quite a few stories to tell." I smiled. "He's in room 48 if you want to go see him. Don't be surprised if he's a little incoherent, he's still on some hefty meds." And I went to go call Takumi, but the Eagle stopped me. "Son, you should come with me, I don't want him thinkin he's in some kinda trouble, 'cause he ain't." So I followed him to room 48; the Colonel hadn't moved a muscle; in fact, he was starting to doze off. The Eagle sat in the chair beside the bed, when the Colonel started to wake up again. "St-starnes?" "Yes, Chip, it's me." "And to what do I owe you for gracing me with your presence?" "Nothing, son… I just came to check up on ya." "Yeah, and check to see if I've been a naughty boy." He was starting to sound like the old Colonel, but he was still under the influence of anesthesia and pain medications. "Well, if almost dying is a bad thing, take me to jail." The Eagle smiled; he knew that he was pretty out of it, but I also knew he somewhat meant what he was saying, even though it came out as incoherent. "You just get to feelin' better, Chip. I've already spoken with your teachers." The Colonel didn't say anything and the Eagle left. I walked further into the room, but I saw he was asleep. Figuring he needed it, I let him sleep and before I knew it, I was asleep too. 


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